Toxic Chemicals Found in 'Natural', 'Organic' Products

Coco

2018-01-30

Toxic chemicals could be in the products you use every day, even if the labels say natural or organic.

Different products have different standards for what they are required to put on the label. Even if all the ingredients are on the bottle, it's hard to know what they mean or what they could do to your health.

After looking up some of the ingredients in these products, we found chemicals linked to neurotoxicity, harmful irritation, damage to DNA and the potential for cancer. Even in products claiming to be natural or organic.

In the United States, there are only 11 chemicals banned for use in cosmetics. Canada has a hotlist of 800 banned or restricted chemicals, and the European Union regulates more than 1,300 chemicals.

In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "does not have the legal authority to approve cosmetics before they go to market," according to their website.

"It has very weak authority to even institute a recall," explained Sonya Lunder from the Environmental Working Group. "Some of these fixes will only come through Congress."

The Environmental Working Group is a non-profit that creates product guides to help consumers. They comb through studies and regulations on chemicals used in personal and household items.

"Our mission is to help and interpret that new science, tell people about products that may be posing risks to their health and also make it easy for people to find alternatives," Lunder said.